Autumn
by BaconFlavoredEverything
Summary: Kiki recently lost someone very dear to her and her mother. They carry on with their lives, thinking it an average death, but when Kiki is confronted by alien creatures and a strange young man in a blue box, average is a rare occasion.
1. Chapter 1

The Autumn leaves were carried on the afternoon breeze as Kiki sat in her dilapidated armchair that had spent many years out on the balcony of the apartment complex where she and her mother lived; just the two of them. Kiki stared at the cars and people who bustled below and sipped the aromatic chai tea that grew cold in her palms. She was still lamenting the events from earlier in the month; the death of a close family member wasn't a thing a teenager could shed so easily. Kiki was dealing with it rather well, at least, better than her mother.  
She stood suddenly and slid the glass door to her apartment open. Inside, her mother was preparing a pot of beef stew, still not used to the fact that there were fewer mouths to feed. Kiki headed to the kitchen sink, rinsed out her mug and washed some dishes before announcing that she was going out for a bit. "Be back before 8:30, the stew should be ready by then." Her mother gave a warm smile and handed Kiki a jacket.  
Slipping her arm through the sleeve of her fluffy, black hooded jacket, Kiki closed the apartment door behind her and headed for the elevator, that is, she would have, but there was an out-of-order sign posted on the door. With a sigh, Kiki sauntered toward the stairwell and began to walk down to the lobby. It was 4:30 in the afternoon when Kiki walked out the font doors of her building; the sun was still high and the Autumn air was cool and crisp. Kiki breathed in the refreshing air and began to head toward the library.  
As she strolled, she had a bit of a strut to her step and she found herself humming a merry tune. For the first time in weeks, she was feeling good; she didn't have to go back to school for a couple of weeks yet and she was having one of her favorite meals for supper. Kiki finished her song as she made it to the front steps of the library; she happily pushed the door open and headed for the fiction section, selected a few books and started for the checkout counter. She waited patiently for a couple of minutes after ringing the service bell, that's when she heard the noise.  
Now, not a loud noise, like an alarm, but it was a low moan. Kiki peered over the counter and found one of the librarians, unconscious on the floor. Her books fell to the floor as Kiki jumped over the counter to somehow help the librarian. Luckily, the librarian was still alive, according to her pulse, so Kiki called an ambulance. "Come quickly." Kiki spoke through her cell phone, but as she hung up, she heard a crash come from the door behind the check-out desk. Slowly, Kiki laid the librarian down in a more comfortable position, taking her keys, unlocked the door, and stepped through. It was a dark and empty cluster of offices, as it is in any library. Kiki felt a chill run down her spine; when she thought about it, there was no one at the library, which was no rare occurrence, but there was a lack of staff as well.  
There was a danger in that library far greater than anything Kiki had experienced, yet she began to close in further on where she heard the crash. It was a fairly dark room, lit only by the light of the few windows in the office, so when she saw the creature she could barely scope out a spot to hide before it had a chance to see her. She hid behind a row of filing cabinets which were positioned in such a way against the wall that she could stick her head out to look at the creature without it seeing her. It had blue scales that covered its humanoid form, sharp teeth that stuck out even with its mouth shut and large clawed hands. A few cracking sounds passed through the creature's form and it looked utterly human; soft white skin, grey fluffy hair and a business suit now occupied the body a creature once dwelled in. Kiki's entire body shook. What on Earth is going on? She thought.  
Kiki was so lost in her own thoughts, in fact, that she did not notice that she had been sitting next to a man that whole time. He grinned at her as she looked at him with surprise. She observed him for a moment, taking in his suit, his mahogany hair; he had remarkably tired, old eyes for one so young-looking—Kiki guessed that he was about twenty-something. "Stay calm, alright? It can literally sense fear." The young man whispered. Kiki shuddered as the words passed his lips, however.  
Sure enough, the creature found them. It poked its head around the corner of the filing cabinets and released a loud, guttural cry from its mouth. Kiki could barely move; time seemed to stay still for a few moments while she was looked in the eye by a monster with a human face. Suddenly, time resumed as something warm gripped Kiki's left hand and tugged on it. She looked at the young man who now held her hand and held on to his for dear life. "Run!" he yelled.


	2. Chapter 2

Without hesitating, Kiki ran as fast as her legs would allow. She clutched the hand of the strange young man who led her through the door whence she came. The creature followed swiftly, casting away its human ruse. The flesh seemed to dissolve behind the indigo scales of its true form. Kiki and the man ran past the paramedics that had just recently arrived; the creature disregarded them, however. They bolted through the front doors into the middle of the street and then the man suddenly stopped.

"This is perfect!" He spoke with such elation as he looked up at the sky. Kiki's fingernails dug in to the young man's hand as the creature stopped in front of them. "Three… Two… One." As the countdown reached its end, a cloud slowly floated away in the sky releasing a beam of sunlight. In an instant, the creature was doubled over in pain. Its body became covered in a deep-blue foam and it shrieked ear-piercingly at the young man, as if cursing him. Moments passed and the shrieking ceased, the foam dissolved and the creature was no more.

Kiki fell to her knees and released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "What… What was that?" she gasped. She releases the young man's hand as he crouched next to where the creature had died. "And—and… Just who are you?" she yelped.

The young man stood and offered Kiki his hand. "I'm the Doctor. Pleased to meet you." He grinned at Kiki the same way he did in the library. For some reason, it was relieving to Kiki; to see a smile after something so vile.

"Doctor? Doctor who?" Kiki's eyebrows twitched in confusion.

"Just 'the Doctor'." Another grin. "As for him," the Doctor gestured the ground, "This was a life form known as a Vitaphagia. Literally a life-eating creature; it sucks the life out of its victims and adds it to its own lifespan. They aren't the brightest things, though. They're quite gullible, really. Did you see how easily we fooled this one?"

"Fooled it? How? And if it's not human, then why did it have a human face… and human skin, even?" Kiki's voice shook.

"Well, it uses the shell of the life-form it drains as a type of armor, so to speak. See, your sun gives off a type of UV radiation—a radiation that the Vitaphagia cannot withstand. It's poison to them, really. Your human skin can withstand that radiation. And so…" The Doctor, again, nodded to the ground. "…they wear your skin. Not bad for low intelligence creatures." The Doctor cleared his throat. "When this one chased after us, it removed its armor to intimidate us. However, that worked against him, as you can see. Not the brightest, eh?"

Just then, the paramedics met with Kiki and the Doctor. One was a short stocky man who reeked of ham and the other was a tall, slender man who had stubble that thinly covered his face. The two looked at the Doctor expectantly and then to Kiki. "You mind telling us what the _hell_ that was?" The stocky man yelled as the slender man looked at where the creature used to be.

"That… was… um… That was—" The Doctor itched behind his ear as he tried to formulate a story in his mind.

"Special effects for my student film. See, my brother," Kiki nudged the Doctor, "is helping me out and… Well, we're sorry for the scare. Anyhow, as for Ms. Winchester, the librarian, over there, she offered to be an extra, but she slipped and bumped her head." Kiki chimed in. It was a believable story. The Doctor nodded in agreement.

The Doctor began to pat himself down. With worry on his face, he looked to Kiki. "Do you have the camera?"

Kiki feigned surprise—though she hardly had to considering her heart was still racing. "No, I thought you had it. Don't tell me you're going to make me do the scene over!" She began to follow the Doctor back into the library. Looking back to the paramedics she said: "Again, sorry about the scare! And thank you for showing up so quickly!"

"Student film, eh? Glad they bought it. Nice thinking, by the way." The Doctor said as Kiki caught up with him. The front doors of the library were slightly off of their hinges and there were large scrapes decorating the ground and the door's frame.

"Yeah, well… A lot of the people around here are film nuts. Probably because we're so close to Hollywood, so it's not that hard to believe." Kiki laughed nervously. This man who called himself "the Doctor"… Kiki was unsure if she should be afraid of him or not. This man led that creature to its death and thought nothing of it afterwards. "My name is Kiki, by the way." She said.

"Kiki, eh? Well, Kiki, I suspect that there are more Vitaphagia still hanging around here… but what is it that they want…?" the Doctor was mumbling to himself.

Kiki took a deep breath, she wanted with all of her heart to trust this young man. He saved her life, why should she fear him? "So what are you going to do now?" she asked.

The Doctor looked over his shoulder. "Oh, wait until another one of these Vitaphagia shows up… Try to reason with it; get it to leave. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that I've never seen you around here before… and my mother is making stew for supper. She always makes too much and, well, would you mind joining us for supper? I mean, you _did_ just save my life, I want to thank you properly." Kiki smiled hopefully. _And it would be nice to have three people at supper again_, she thought.

"Ah… Mmm…" The Doctor sighed. "All right, but just this once." Kiki felt elated; as if a weight that had been set upon her for such a long time had been lifted. She happily began to lead the Doctor back to her home.

They walked beside each other in silence for a long while, breathing in the crisp Autumn air. Kiki would sometimes look up at the Doctor, taking in his odd clothing—a grey button-down under a plaid orange sweater-vest with a navy blue suit over top of it all—his deep brown hair, and most of all, his eyes. His eyes mesmerized Kiki; they were such old, wise eyes… perhaps not even human eyes. "So how did you know what that creature was, anyway?"

"Oh, well, you know." The Doctor looked at Kiki and scratched behind his head. "I, umm, let's just say I travel around a lot. I've seen a lot of places, met people and things you've never even heard of." He grinned. "Rest assured I'm not one of them."

"A traveler called 'The Doctor'…" Kiki mumbled. "Well, here's my building! My mom and I live on the top floor—that apartment there with the orchids on the balcony."


End file.
